Laurie Kellogg makes the case for 'nostalgic romance'

Laurie Kellogg makes the case for 'nostalgic romance'

Laurie Kellogg, author of The Memory of You, out now, out now, took her outrage at how Vietnam troops were treated and wrote a happy ending for them …

Laurie: The weeks between Feb. 12 and April 4 mark the 40th anniversary of Operation Homecoming. This historic event isn’t printed on your calendar and is probably only remembered by the families of the 591 Vietnam POWs who returned home during that period.

Although I never personally knew any POWs, I remember those weeks and that there was much less celebration than our returning soldiers deserved. Some of the men had been held captive and abused for nearly nine years. Fathers were strangers to their children and had missed the joy of raising them. Many learned their wives or sweethearts had moved on without them, and much of society, including potential employers, showed contempt, rather than respect, for these men’s service to our country.

This outraged me. All through high school, I had worn a MIA/POW bracelet engraved with the name of a young soldier missing in action. When the POWs returned in 1973 and my war hero never made it home, my heart broke.

Vietnam was an unpopular police action or conflict that didn’t even rate the official label of war. Regardless of the controversial politics, I never forgot the sacrifices these men and their families made, so I felt compelled to write one of them a fictional happy ending.

The resulting novel, The Memory of You, is set at the end of the Vietnam War and not only has it won Romance Writers of America Golden Heart award but was also an RT Book Reviews American Title finalist under an alternate title. Ultimately, I chose to publish this story independently because the romance industry is reluctant to publish novels in a print format that are set between the end of WWII and present day. The Memory of You has been marketed as a contemporary romance since it’s closer to that subgenre than historical. However, technically, the book should be classified as what I call “nostalgic romance” — a subgenre I hope will flourish with the rising success of e-publishing.

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In the year since The Memory of You debuted, my nostalgic romance has been successful in both sales and reviews, which I hope will encourage other authors to write stories set between the end of WWII and the dawn of the digital age. The years between 1945 and 1980 saw dramatic changes in our country, both in gender roles and civil liberties, and were rife with natural romantic conflict between men and women. This makes me wonder how many great nostalgic love stories New York publishers are overlooking.

The Memory of You is a second-chance romance starring an emotionally wounded hero with no past and a heartbroken single mother with a lonely future. This nostalgic time period provided opportunities for a lot of blast-from-the-past humor. Readers have commented how pleased they were to find this poignant story both quite funny and surprisingly sexy. This novel is the prequel to my Return to Redemption series. I hope to publish a yet-to-be-written sequel, The Wonder of You, starring Ben, another POW from The Memory of You, sometime this summer.

During the next six weeks, as a tribute to our soldiers, and in memory of all of our military men and women who never returned home, The Memory of You will be free, in digital format only, at most major e-book distributors. For those who prefer a print format, a paperback edition is also available for purchase at Amazon.com.

Here’s the blurb for The Memory of You:

She can’t forget him — he can’t remember her.

Together, they must discover the healing power of unforgettable love

The day Lieutenant Matthew Foster departed for his so-called “tour” in Vietnam, he never expected a sudden change in his itinerary would include an extended stay in the horrific Hanoi Hilton. Six years later, he’s finally released with the other POWs during Operation Homecoming. Unfortunately, his memories before his capture were erased by the complimentary torture provided by the hotel’s concierge. Due to prior facial injuries and the beard concealing his gauntness, he looks nothing like the boyish photo in his military file.

When the Army informs Matt he has a wife and he was mistakenly declared dead, he’s sure Abby must have made a new life for herself. He doubts the bitter man he’s become can salvage the boy she once cared for, so to be fair to her, he decides to write a note to wish her well and leave. But before he does, he can’t resist going to Redemption, Pa., to catch a glimpse of the woman he’d loved enough to marry.

The irony of the small town’s name is totally eclipsed by Matt’s dread that he’ll discover he’s lost something truly worth remembering. That fear becomes reality when he learns Abby is engaged, and he’s a daddy! Luckily, his wife doesn’t recognize him, so Matt could still walk away from the beautiful stranger who’s been starring in his X-rated dreams. However, he could never, ever abandon his sons.